Propelling mechanism for boats.



Patented Oct. I6, I900.

5 co, vuuruumo No. 65mm.

A. BEL-Z.

PBOPELLING MECHANISM FOR BOATS.

(Application filed Feb. 15, 1900.)

(No Model.)

nTTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BOAT PROPULSION MANUFACTURING COMPANY,

OF SAME PLACE.

PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR BOATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 659,841, dated October16, 1900. Application filed February 15,1900. serial No. 5,273. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT BELZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Appleton, in the county of Out-agamie and State ofWVisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in PropulsionMechanism for Boats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in propulsion mechanism forboats, the object being to provide improved mechanism for 7 raising andlowering the carrying-frame and stern-wheel, so that said frame andwheel may be locked in the position in Which they have been placed.

The invention also consists in the nstruction and combination of theWheel-driving mechanism whereby one person can actuate the hand-leversto drive the wheel and without taking his hands off the levers the mech-2o anism being so arranged that- Other persons may assist in driving thewheel by operating foot-levers of the type shown in Patent No. 618,555,issued to me January 31, 1899.

The invention also consists in the construction and combination of theparts and general arrangement thereof, as will be hereinafter set forth,and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is 0 a plan view of a boat havingmy improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional viewtaken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view ofthe mechanism for raising and lowering the fram e 3 5 to which the sternpaddle-wheel is attached, and Fig. at is a detail perspective view ofthe foot-gear of the steering mechanism.

The boat near its stern is provided with a cross-piece a, which isprovided with brack- 0 ets a, through which passes a bar or rod whichpivotally attaches thereto the side bars A of the stern-wheel-supportingframe. These side bars are connected to each other by a board A, towhich is hinged a board a 5 and rear of the board a is a guard orfender, constructed as shown in my prior patent.

The stern-wheel is journaled upon the side bars A, and thesupporting-shaft thereof has arms or cranks to which are attached rodswhich connect the cranks to levers.

To the side bars A by means of suitable lever forward the brackets bthere is secured a shaft B, which shaft lies between the side bars A Aand beneath the transverse board which is attached to the upper sides ofthe bars. The shaft B is provided with arms I), to which are attachedlinks 6 these links being pivotally attached at their lower ends tobrackets or fixtures 5 which are secured to the stern of the boat.Adjacent to one of the arms the rod or shaft is provided with a lever B,said lever projecting through a slot in the board A, and to said leverthere is pivotally attached a notched or toothed segment B which hasabove its pivot a hand-grasping portion. The segment B passes through anopening preferably adjacent tothe abutting edges of the board A and aand is adapted to engage with a catch-plate c, secured to one of theside bars A. The catch-plate c is preferably made from a flat plate ofmetal bent so that the ends will project in opposite directions, thelower end or side having perforations through which pass the means forattaching the plate to the under side of one of the bars A.

By means of the construction shown when the hand-grasping portion of thesegment is brought toward the lever said segment will be thrown out ofengagement with the catchplate, and by drawing the upper end of thepaddle-Wheel-supporting frame may he raised, and when the segment isreleased it will engage with the catch-plate and hold the frame againstmovement. To lower the frame, it is only necessary to release thesegment, when the frame will be lowered, so as to rest upon the sterncross-bar of the boat.

The construction shown provides a convenient means for raising andlowering the paddle-wheel, so that it can be lifted entirely out of thewater or positioned so that the paddles will be submerged to the desireddepth in accord with the load in the boat or the number of personsassisting in the propulsion of the 5 same.

The rods f, which extend forward from the cranks of the paddle-wheel,are attached to the upper ends of levers e, which are journaled beneaththe rear or stern seat of the boat, and to the lower ends of said leversare attached connecting-rods 2', which are pivotally attached tohand-levers, said hand-levers being secured to a bracket attached to thefloor of the boat in line with its keel, so that the hand-levers willproject upward from the center of the boat. One of the lower ends of thelevers e is provided with an in wardly-projecti-ng pin, with which a rodg may be'placed in engagement, said rod extending forward, forengagement with foot-levers, which are attached to cross-pieces in rearof the seats. The foot-levers and their connecting mechanism may be asshown in my prior patent, and when the rod g is placed in engagementwith one of the levers e a person sitting on one of the forward seatscan by actuating the foot-levers assist in propelling the boat," thehand-levers being operated by person sit-l ting on the rear seat.

In order to provide a convenient steering- 5 gear which can be operatedby the person; who manipulates the hand-levers, I attach to g the bottomboard of the boat a frame'avhich supports a short section of shafting,upon which is mounted a gear-wheel m, and with said gear-wheel theremeshes depending teeth 1 of .a fixture n, which is pivoted to the framegand is provided with lateral and upwardly-i extending foot-rests. To theshort section of shafting which passes through a sleeve of; therigidly-attached fixture there is attached a part of a universaljoint,'fro.1n which extends upwardly and rearwardly a shafthaving at itsends parts of a universal joint, the upper end engaging with ashortandsuit-ably- 1 housed shaft, which has a pinion, said pinion engaging witha pinion on the rudder-head. 5 y this construction when the footpieceisj moved the rudder will be turned. Having thus described my invention,what;

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a propulsion mechanism for boats, the combination with astern-wheel-supporting frame which is pivotally attached at its forwardend to the hull of a boat, of a hand-lever connected to thesupporting-frame and to the hull of the boat, and means for locking thehand-lever to prevent the raising or lowering of the wheel-supportingframe.

2. Ina propulsion mechanism for boats, the combination with awheel-supporting frame which is pivotally attached to the hull of a'boat, a hand-lever pivotally attached to the supportin g-frame andprovided with a forwardly-projecting arm, a link connected to said armand to the hull of the boat, and

means for locking the lever to prevent movement the frame, substantiallyas shown.

3. Ina propulsion mechanism for boats, the

combination with a supporting-frame for a stern-wheel, means for movablyconnecting the frame with the hull of a boat, a cross-bar or \sha-fitcarried by the frame and provided with forwardly-projecti ig arms, alever for actuating the vs-haift and arms, links pivoted to thearmsandto brackets which are secured to the hull of the boat, a segmentallocking-plate pivoted to the operating-lever and Q adapted to engagewith a catch-plate carried by the wheel-supporting frame, substantiallyas shown and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of .twosubscribing witnesses.

ALBERT BELZ.

Witnesses ALBERT BELZ, J r., J. A. JOHNSON.

